‘Mullaperiyar level can be increased after strengthening dam’

Madurai: There are no safety issues concerning the Mullaperiyar dam, and the water level can be increased to 152ft after strengthening the baby dam, the high-level committee appointed by the Supreme Court has said.The committee, led by its chairman and chief engineer of dam safety, Central Water Commission, Gulshan Raj inspected the baby dam, gallery, and the functioning of the shutters on Tuesday. Later, speaking to reporters, Raj said they did not notice any safety concern in the dam during the inspection. The shutters were operated and found to be functioning well. He said the dam’s water level could be increased to its original maximum level of 152ft, after strengthening the baby dam. This should be done in co-operation with the two state governments concerned.The committee was accompanied by officials from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, including principal secretary of public works department (PWD), K Manivasan and secretary of water resources of Kerala, B Ashok.The committee also held discussions with members of the sub-committee from both states. Executive engineer of Periyar-Vaigai basin, T Subramanian said they had asked for the road work to the dam, for which the Tamil Nadu government had already allocated Rs 1.5 crore, be started at the earliest. This road is not motorable, as it was not maintained for a decade. They also discussed the strengthening of the baby dam, and providing electricity to the dam. Work would also begin on installing a CCTV camera network at the dam site as part of the measure to increase security, he said.